Mulayam, Advani conspired on Babri masjid: Beni Prasad Verma

Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma Tuesday accused Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav of conniving with BJP leader L.K. Advani to bring down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

Congress leader Verma said here that after detaining BJP leaders like Advani and Vinay Katiyar at a guest house in Faizabad, Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had met them discreetly and it was decided that the kar sevaks would be allowed to offer prayers near the disputed structure.

Verma also alleged that the firing on kar sewaks in November 1990 was not required and was part of a larger conspiracy hatched by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The Congress leader also alleged that the SP had nothing to do with socialism. He also slammed the SP for holding Brahmin conventions and said such moves were aimed at dividing society for narrow political gains.

Reacting to the accusations against Advani, BJP leader Kalraj Mishra sought to know from Verma if he was also part of the conspiracy to bring down the disputed mosque. "Beni Prasad Verma was in the SP at the time of the incident. He should shed more light on the matter and come clear on his personal role in the incident," Mishra said.

This is the third time that Verma has slammed Mulayam Singh Yadav.

His earlier barbs against the former chief minister had created a stir and had almost broken down relations between the Congress and the SP. Verma had alleged that Mulayam Singh Yadav had links with terrorists and that he took a "commission" for the support he was extending to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

An enraged Mulayam Singh Yadav had vented his anger at the Congress leadership, after which Congress president Sonia Gandhi publicly apologised to him in the Lok Sabha.

However, the SP's demand to sack Verma from the cabinet was not heeded.